


They Can't Help You

by ThatPeskyBoat



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Eldrich Whisperings, F/F, Feferi's a human anyway, Humanstuck, Kanaya not so much, Monsterous Vampires, Paranoia, Scaretober, Well - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2017-10-30
Packaged: 2019-01-26 21:49:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12566940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatPeskyBoat/pseuds/ThatPeskyBoat
Summary: Feferi has lingering touches of a past she never owned, and the dark has never been forgiving.





	They Can't Help You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gl_bgolyb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gl_bgolyb/gifts).



Another night, another headache. Feferi was all too familiar with the way that pins jabbed repeatedly - unrelentingly - at her temples, as well as the deep-seated throbbing that sat in the base of her skull. It weighed her down, made her feel like getting out of bed just wasn’t worth it. However, she was Feferi Peixes, and staying in bed just wasn’t her style. Not when there was things that had to be done! 

 

**Ō͉̯̤ͩ͋͝ͅt͎͉̦̼̝͓̭ͪ̈͛͟ọ̭̲̩͚̫̥͂̈͌̊̀t͉̙ͨͅ ͍̼̃͛̋ͪ́̋̿h̔͗҉̩̝͙e͖͌̑̅ͬ͆̒̇ę̙̑ͦ̃̉t̺̺ͣ̈́ͨͣ͘.̬̞̋.̳̱͡.̡̯͓̩̘͖͖͈̂ͩ̂̏̂͗**

 

Ah. And then there were the whisperings that were coupled with these ferocious headaches. The endless whispers of eldritch beings that she  barely knew the names of, their murmurs in broodfester tongues boring relentlessly into her psyche. To claim that she understood everything that was said would be a lie, however she was vaguely aware of the fact that if she were to actually attempt to listen to those senseless mutterings, she would go mad.

 

The lingering possibility of eternal insanity aside, Feferi was making her way out of her home for the night. No, she wasn’t going on a trip to a nightclub, nor was she heading out to a bar. Instead, she was en route to work, despite how bad she felt. Working a night job had its pros and cons, one of the ups being that it was almost always quiet during the night. That is, unless the boys in the frat house ΔΛΦ had decided to throw yet another of their “epic” parties. Though, it was a more frequent occurrence than anyone else on the street liked. Tonight was not one of those nights, to Feferi’s relief.

 

One of the downsides to having to walk through the gloom to get to work was starting to make itself apparent about ten minutes after Feferi had left her apartment. The darkness blanketed her surroundings thickly, the blackness of the night so dense that it felt as if it were suffocating her. The only salvation she had was the measly streetlamps that cast their weak, sickly glow about them. The light they attempted to illuminate their surroundings was never enough - it had never been enough. When one malfunctioned, it created an unforgiving sea of ink between the one before and the one after: a thick, seemingly impenetrable gap. 

 

It was just Feferi’s luck that she had found herself one of these broken streetlamps on her way to work. A mental note was made to report this later. For now, a quiet curse left her lips as she paused on the edge of the abyss, feet only just dipping into the deep darkness as the right of light faded out almost abruptly. Hairs prickled on the back of her neck as she stood there, attempting to force her eyes to adjust to the low light immediately in front of her in order to make her way safely to the next circle of light, so that she didn’t trip over anything that may be laying on the path ahead.

  
  


**F͍͕̩͍͈͆̌ͩ̌̚’͉̹̼̹̫͐̿͑ͨͨͤͫr̫̺̳̐ͨ͊̔h̠͔̽̉͋̈́ͮi͖̠̖̳̒ ̝t'͚͊̂t͙̬͓͉ͪ̿̑͑̉ ͭ͋̃̎̎n̅̄̃’̣͋ͬͯ͒̚g̞͈̬̩̒̔̆ͤ̾́ͅȟ̦̓͆ͥͣf͔ͧͤ̔t͉̜̻̤̂ͮ͌͐ͦ**

  
  


Without warning, the streetlamp above her flickered dangerously, causing Feferi to turn her attention away from the darkness in front of her. Her eyes snapped up to look at what had happened, a sudden wave of paranoia washing over her as the light flickered a few more times, before finally dying out. Her chest tightened as she stared at the burnt out bulb for another minute, not daring to look around just yet.  _ It’s fine, Feferi. It’s just a broken lightbulb! Nothing’s going to happen just because it burnt out, you silly goose. _ The light mental berating did little to calm her nerves as she finally looked down to her feet, taking a deep breath.

 

...

  
  


**G͙͖͓̫̫̳̈i͕̍̔̽ ̠̠̭̱̜̝̿̋fͯu̞̟̪̱͇͋̄ͤ̌̓̅t̲̼̘̙̠̻̟̓͒͂ͣ̆͌â̱͋̊͊s̙̩̘ͯ̒͌̚̚t̹͚̠͚̟̤ ̟ͤ̋̐͗ͭ̃l͍̅ͨ̀̑̋̍a̹y̩̓ͫ̂́'t̹̼̟̜̖̒̔͋̐̋ ̯̝̽͋l̘̠̹̰̘̭͙ͦ̎̊͒̚’͚͍ȍ͎̩͕̫̌̒̑a͕͙̺̖̱̦̲͐̆͐̊ͪ͂̎ ̙͓̦̪̭o̩͚̮͓̐n̳̪͊̈ͩ’̳̹ͥͫ͋͗̈́s̱͇͙ͬ͋̂ͥ̆r͔̻̗͈̺͐ ͇̫̙̮̳ͅb̲̃e̠̹̫ͧ͛ͤ̇̎̋l̘͓ͪ̽ạ̀ͬͤ͑̔̃̆k̝̪̥̖̙͋̓̑**

  
  


...

 

That breath caught in her lungs. Her heart felt like it was going to break her ribs, the violent tattoo that it throbbed with feeling like it beat against her very bones. Dread had washed through her very being. Feferi stood stock still, barely daring to look up again as she did her best to swallow down the fear that lumped in her throat.

 

_ There was someone- no, some _ **_thing_ ** _ standing in the darkness with her. _

 

She had barely noticed it at first, hardly a glimpse of it flashing in her peripheral vision as her gaze and flicked down to the floor. Perhaps she wouldn’t have seen it at all if the eyes, somehow blacker than the night itself, hadn’t reflected the light from the streetlamps behind her. Although she couldn’t see it now, her eyes wide and body frozen, she could  _ feel _ its presence. It felt  _ off _ in ways that Feferi couldn’t describe, the silence of whatever it was so impossible that she could only hear the light wind around her and her own heartbeat. She was sure that whatever it was that stood with her could hear it too.

  
  


**Fͬͫ̄r̞ͯ͊ͭ̿ͥ'̋n̠̻̫̬̗̠̓͆d̰͖̝̥̠̥͙̉̉͋̈́̚ ̪̩͈̭t̗͓̘h̪͙̤̤͐̄̍̈́̓r͓̬̙̓͐͂͊ͮ̚’̫̳͉̟l̼̪͉͕ͅ ̜̥͓̺̮͎̔ͤ̈̒ͅf̺̮̺̆̂o̗̰̬̱͔̻e̙ͤ̿?**

͌ͮ̑͑

  
  


**V͈̥͉̥̫̫̅̉̌͒̓̚ͅe̮̮̯̺͔ͭ̏ͤ̂̚ỏ͕̘̥ͭͬ̐̓ͪi̭̞̾ͯ͆ͭ̔͗̚l̦͇̬̖͓̥̄l͍̄͐̈ͭͩ̅͗a͚̘͙̞͂ͫͫ̈́ͭͪ͋ ̜͖̜͉͇t̼͐̓ͯh͓͐̅̈͑̿͑̆r͚̖͓̙̟ͥ̚ͅ’͖̣̯͚̓̄̃͌̐l̺̥̲̱͇̀̌̉ ̩̎͗ͬv͖̟̇͛̒ͨi̯̗͉̟ͅ'̤͛̃͒͌i̥͎̩̭͔̓m̠̼̗͖̹͚̾?̫̼̯͙̿̊ͅ**

  
  


The damned whisperings were getting louder in her head, demanding to be heard by the young woman, and refusing to let her concentrate on the situation that surrounded her. She lifted her head, shadows swimming in front of her. A flash of searing pain through the middle of her skull distracted her from the creature that stalked closer, disproportionately long limbs stretching out to bring itself closer to her.

 

**_Tw͘iste̕t b̢odi҉ę't nny͏ul҉d gi͝ ̧t͢h͠r͏one,͏_ **

**_͜sk͟ul̴l't n͡g͢e̢ tend͟o̵n͟s,̴ fle͢sh ͜n̸g̕e͝ ͝bo͏nęs̨,̛_ **

**_f̴t͏aghu̴ ̷stret̢che͠t ̧c͠i͠rd͏l̢y,͞ c͢a̛, ̡es,͏_ **

**_up͝o͏n f͞i̶b͠’̸th th͢ro͞n̶e ̷shall fut sea͏t̵ȩt ̴j҉al҉u._ **

 

Visions struck Feferi.  _ Visions of bodies twisted into impossible shapes, of blood on walls and hands reaching up from floors.  _ She brought her hands to her head, clutching at it as she attempted to force them away from her, to make them leave her alone.  _ A thousand eyes peer out from the dark, inky tendrils reach out and chill the bone, a hundred mouths with sharklike teeth all chant their endless chorale. _ They felt like flies buzzing around in her skull, bouncing off of the sides and back around, their momentum building as the thrumming got louder and more intense until

 

The world tilted around Feferi, and it didn’t take her long to realise that she was keeling over. Time seemed to pass sluggishly as she fell, the ground coming up to meet her graciously. Something was swimming above her as her vision dimmed, and her head suddenly felt light. The apparitions that had plagued her just a few moments ago had suddenly disappeared as if a switch had flicked off in her mind. The streetlight flickered back on above Feferi, blinding her momentarily as she realised that she had been caught before she could make the ground’s acquaintance. The face above her had been thrown into wicked relief, and Feferi wished that the light had stayed off. What looked like hundreds of needle-sharp teeth lined a lipless mouth, as completely black, beady eyes stared down at her. The face was gaunt, almost skeletal in nature, and there was a shock of thin hair hanging limply from the top of the head.

 

She managed to stutter out a few sounds as she attempted to comprehend what she was seeing, causing the creature to seemingly sigh in relief.   
  
And then Feferi screamed.

 

The creature almost jumped out of its skin from shock, dropping Feferi to the floor as it clapped its hands over the sides of its head to cover its ears. Feferi hit the ground hard, the breath rushing out of her lungs and cutting her scream short. Attempting to force a breath into her lungs, Feferi felt panic rushing in. Whatever it was that stood there above her was going to kill her and she had no chance of living. She closed her eyes for a moment, rolling onto her side as best that she could and praying to whatever gods that were out there to help her. There was a gentle pressure on her shoulders, something that she recognised as a pair of hands, before she felt herself being pulled up into a sitting position. She dared to crack open her eyes. What she saw was definitely not what she had been expecting.

 

A gorgeous young woman knelt there, brows furrowed with a concerned expression twisting her beautiful features. Understandably, Feferi was incredibly confused. Where had this young woman come from? Where did the monster go? Did this woman see it? She clutched her head for a moment, closing her eyes in the hopes that everything would straighten itself out.

 

“I believe that I may have inadvertently shocked you,” The woman said, her silky voice tinged with worry, “That wasn’t my intention, and thus I apologise.”   
“What?” That was the only thing that Feferi could actually manage at that moment, opening her eyes to properly look at the other woman. Her eyes were a deep, rich jade, so dark to almost be black. Her luxurious hair was coiffed in such a way that seemed to make it stand up at the back. There was a gentle smile on her face now, lips pulled back enough to reveal the abnormally long canines that just about protruded from her mouth.   
“I’m sorry? I believe that you caught me whilst I was hunting from my next meal. There’s really no use lying about it at this point, considering that you seemed to lock up at the sight of me. Something was off about you, thus putting me off of coming much closer. That is, until you started to fall. Currently, I’m using the form that I usually use to blend in with the masses and utilise in daily interactions with those of your kind.”   
“That… The monster, that was you?!”   
The woman almost looked hurt at that. “I might not be conventionally attractive in my natural form, but calling me a monster is downright harsh.”   
“Oh, right. Saury, it’s just a little hard to get my head around this. Reely, I didn’t mean any offense by it,” Feferi rubbed her eyes a little, before looking back at the woman once more. “I just didn’t expect something… like that!”   
“It’s perfectly fine. Such reactions are not unknown to me after all. My name is Kanaya Maryam, by the by.”

“Feferi. Feferi Peixes.” Her hand was taken in a brisk handshake and Kanaya’s smile died a little.   
“You still seem shaken, Feferi.”   
“Really? I wonder why that would be!” Sarcasm dripped from Feferi’s lips as she spoke, looking at her waatch and groaning. She would never make it to work on time now. Pulling out her phone, she texted her boss to tell him that she wasn’t going to be able to make it into work today due to suddenly falling ill. Headaches, nausea, the lot. She wasn’t exactly  _ lying _ , either. A sigh left her lips as Kanaya stood up, brushing off her skirt and holding her hand out to the other.

“I see that you were employing some well-placed sarcasm there. Perhaps I can atone for terrifying you? Let’s see, would you decline if I were to offer to buy you a meal?”

 

Feferi took the hand cautiously, finding that she was actually considering the offer as she pulled herself to her feet. What could she say? She was weak to beautiful women. However, she crossed her arms over her chest and put on a puzzled grimace for show.   
“You can decide where we dine, if you’d like?”   
“Fine. But only if I don’t become your meal after!”

 

A wide grin split on Kanaya’s lips as she offered her arm, eyes flashing.   
  
“No promises there.”


End file.
